Memorial Mass for priest killed in line of duty set at Cathedral of St. Paul

Memorial Mass for priest killed
in line of duty set at Cathedral
A memorial Mass for Father James E. Coyle who was killed in the line of duty will be held on Friday, Aug. 11 at 12:10 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul, 2120 3rd Ave. North, Birmingham. A reception and special address by Jim Pinto, director of the memorial project, will follow.
Father Coyle was shot and fatally wounded as he sat in the swing on his rectory front porch by an enraged minister whose daughter’s marriage to a dark-skinned Puerto Rican Father Coyle had presided over less than two hours before he was shot. He died 40 minutes later in the operating room at St. Vincent’s Hospital.
His funeral was one of the largest ever held in the history of Birmingham. The shooter, who was also a Klansman, was found not guilty in a trial held two months later. The trial was a travesty of justice.